SCHOOLKIDS ARE SEEING GREEN

Relaunching community garden, composting next on ‘to do’ list

Over 100 recycling bins are in use at an elementary school after students learn about the process.

Adobe Acres Elementary School is making strides to be a little greener.

Lizeth Aviles, family and community liaison at the school, said students are learning the importance of being environmentally conscious with a new schoolwide recycling initiative.

“To me, it is important to create sustainability. I think it’s everybody’s responsibility to take care of our planet,” she said.

The school recently got 165 bins, purchased through community donations, to teach kids about recycling and get them participating in the process.

Recycling reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators, saves energy and conserves natural resources.

Students from kindergarten through fifth grade learned the basics — like separating plastic and paper — at an assembly this month.

“We taught them with pictures and video from the Waste Management department,” Aviles said.

She said kids already have the hang of it, remembering to sort before they toss.

“They recognize the recycling symbol. They look for that symbol on water bottles or anything and they know at this point where everything goes,” she said.

Blue and green bins are littered throughout campus, including in every classroom, the gym, front office and work rooms.

Aviles said she hopes students take their new skills home to teach their parents and others in the community about recycling.

Fabiola Rivera, a graduate student and community partner, led the fundraising efforts and helped spearhead the project.

Rivera said she is required to do a sustainability program as part of one of her courses and she chose Adobe Acres because she has worked with the elementary school before.

She told the Journal in an email that she presented a proposal to the school and it kicked off from there.

Aviles said the school is aiming to implement other green changes, including relaunching its community garden and composting.

COURTESY OF FABIOLA RIVERA Adobe Acres Elementary School is showing kids how to participate in the recycling process through its new schoolwide effort.